1880.] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



151 



the crop; or superphosphate, from 100 to 300 

 pounds to the acre, the larger quantity the 

 better, would bo very benelicial. 



The seed bed should not be too loose and 

 fine, as is too oftcu the case. If too loose the 

 heavy fall rains will compress the soil, and the 

 growth of the plant will be impeded. Wheat 

 always succeeds better in a tolerably compact 

 soil that is not too loose. 



In order to have the land in the best condi- 

 tion for wheat it should be plowed deep for 

 the previous crop the previous fall, and then 

 cross-plowed to the depth of not more than 

 six inches and the whiat drilled in. The land 

 on which tail wheat is to be sown should lie 

 free from any liability to retain surface water. 

 This is of the greatest importance. The 

 freezing of surface water is the greatest cause 

 of fall wheat being winter-killed. If the land 

 be free from water and otherwise in good con- 

 dition, there is little danger of the wheat 

 plant Iwing killed by frost. If the laud be not 

 underdrained or naturally dry, it is necessary 

 to make open furrows to prevent water lying 

 on or in the soil, and the earth thrown out of 

 the soil, scattered evenly with a shovel. 



The proper time for sowing depends on cir- 

 cumstances. Early sowing has produced 

 heavy crops. 'When wheat was sown the last 

 fortnight in August or the first week in Sep- 

 tember, the roots had firm hold of the soil, 

 and the abundant vegetation served to shelter 

 them from the winter killing. There was, it 

 seems, somewhat besides early sowing in its 

 favor. The land was not then so denuded of 

 all shelter, and the fertility of the virgin soil 

 was not exhausted. The early sowing on well- 

 prepared soil, however, was a good protec- 

 tion. But there is now great risk in early 

 sowing. The early-sown wheat is apt to suf- 

 fer most from the attacks of the Hessian fly 

 and the wire worm ; so of two evils we chose 

 the least dangerous, and as protection from the 

 insects, sow as late as possible. 



In a former number we gave a report made 

 to the late millers' convention as to the best 

 varieties of wheat for their purpose. The 

 wheat-grower must decide for himself 

 the best for his interest to sow, and govern 

 himself accordingly. We hope that new va- 

 rieties which may have been found valuable 

 may be introduced and tried on a small scale. 

 The admirable mail facilities now furnished 

 , by the post-office laws for this purpose are 

 well adapted to and serviceable in the intro- 

 duction of seed. The Prairie Farmer 

 (Chicago) says that Wm. T. Hearne, of Lex- 

 ington, Ky., who made Short-horn 

 sales lately, is a great wheat-grower, and 

 generally outstrips his neighbors from ten to 

 twenty bushels to the acre. He is a great 

 fancier of the silver chaft", of which he raised 

 70 acres, and made an average of 27i bushels. 

 Last year he bettered that by twenty bushels 

 to the acre. The fly hurt him this year, and 

 he thinks that the free use of salt only 

 saved it. 



And the California Rural Press says the 

 best sample of wheat which has come under 

 its notice, was from Vallejo. It was of the 

 Snow-flake variety, the kernels were very 

 large and plump, and the heads well filled. It 

 adds : -'It is easy to believe that some acres 

 of such wheat will go 60 bushels, and the 

 average of 200 acres, we are assured, will be 

 over 40 bushels per acre. From the look of 

 the sample we think the figures are within 

 the facts. Such wheat should be sown, every 

 kernel of it. It is too fine to grind up until 

 everyone is supplied with such seed." — Balti- 

 more American. 



POMOLOGY. 



For Our Fruit Growing Readers. 

 Major Freas, of the Gernuintown Telegraph, 

 has tor nearly half a century been an au- 

 thority on questions of pomology. An exten- 

 sive fruit grower himself, he has carefully 

 noted everything pertaining to this depart- 

 ment of industry, and what he says may 

 therefore be accepted as the dictum of a man 

 who knows whereof he speaks. A week ago 



he jiublished the following article which may 

 be of service to all who contemplate setting 

 out trees or-the culture of fruits of any kind. 



Our Revised Fruit List. 



Since the last publication of our fruit list, 

 we have for satisfactory reasons changed our 

 opinion with respect to a few of the fruits 

 which it contained. But in regard to the list 

 as a whole we can see no just grounds for dis- 

 turbing it. Indeed, we do not see how it can 

 be improved for this section of country, or as 

 a general list for all the Middle .States. Some 

 of each of tlie separate selections may not do 

 well upon one premises that will succeed ad- 

 mirably on another. Each grower must find 

 out for for himself the particular apples, pears 

 etc., especially adopted to his soil and loca- 

 tion. 



According to our pie.seut preference, we 

 should select the following for our own plant- 

 ing : 



Standard Pears: 1. GifTard. 2. Doyenne 

 d'Ete. 3. Early Catharine. 4. Kirtland. 5. 

 Bloodgood. 6. Summer .lulienne. 7. Tyson. 

 8. Brandywinc. 9. Bartlett. 10. Belle 

 Lucrative. 11. Manning's Elizabeth. 12. 

 Seckel. 13. Howell. 14. Aujou. 15. Shel- 

 don. 16. St. Cxhislan. 17. "Lawrence. IH 

 Reading. 



For those who may dtsire a smaller num- 

 ber, we should select : 1. Giffard. 2. Early 

 Catharine. 3. Bloodgood. 4. Tyson. 5. 

 Bartlett. 6. Belle Lucrative. 7. Seckel. 8. 

 Lawrence, i). Reading. They ripen in about 

 the order they are arranged. In the above 

 list, from No. 1 to 8 are summer varieties, 

 from 9 to 16 autumn (early and late), and 17 

 and 18 winter, thus affording a sufficient 

 number for each of the periods of the best 

 known sorts for this region. 



Dwarf Pears : 1. St. Michael D'Archange. 

 2. Bartlett. 3. Comice. 4. Ro.stiezer. .5. 

 Diel. 6. Tyson. 7. Belle Lucrative. 8. 

 Lawrence. 9. Ott. 10. Louise Boonne. 11. 

 Bosc. 12. Boussock. 13. Glout Morceau. 



A2->ples: 1. Maiden's Blush. 2. Baldwin. 3. 

 Smokehouse. 4. Korthern Spy. 5. Smith's 

 Cider. 6. Fallawater. 7. Cornell's Fancy. S. 

 Red Astrachan. 9. Wagoner. 10. Porter. 11. 

 Gravenstein. 12. Tompkins' King. 13. Rox- 

 bury Russett. 



We add to the foregoing list Tompkin's 

 King and Roxbury Russet, both most excel- 

 lent varieties; indeed, the 

 by some as unsurpassed, 

 also restored. 



Peaches: 1. Crawford's Earlv. 2. Hale's 

 Early. 3. York's Early. 4. Old Mixon. ij. 

 Cra\vford's Late. 6. Ward's Late. 7. Smock's 

 Late. 8. Susquehanna. 



There is no solid reason to change this list, 

 so far as it goes. We suggest to peach grow- 

 ers to favor us with a list of their own, and a 

 few did, but where they differed from ours we 

 did not deem an improvement. 



Grapes: 1. Telegraph. 2. Concord. 3. 

 Hartford. 4. Clinton. 5. Salem. 6. Rogers' 

 No. ,32. 



We have added to the list Rogers' No. 32, 

 which, should it maintain its present char- 

 acter, will be the very best out-door variety 

 cultivated. It is a beautiful pink, or rather 

 maroon, colored grape, and at times is trans- 

 parent. It bears regular crops yearly with 

 us. Clinton, in the foregoing list, is only for 

 wine, and is probably the very best for that 

 purpose. We also add the Briyhton, a ma- 

 roon color, as promising well. It is, however, 

 a small berry and rather straggling bunches, 

 but is almost pulpless, and of fair quality. 

 The Prentiss is another new grape, somewhat 

 larger than the Delaware, of good quality and 

 scarcely a perceptible pulp. It promises to 

 take the lead of all the white varieties. The 

 bunches are compact and of fair size. 



Cherries : 1 May Bigarreau. 2. Belle de 

 Choisy. 3. Black Tartarian. 4. Black Eagle. 

 .5. Black Hawk. 6. Elton. 7. Downer's 

 Late. 8. Early Richmond. 9. Early Purple 

 Guigne. 10. Delaware Bleeding Heart. 



The ripening of the list will range from the 

 earliest to the latest, thus carrying one 



King is regarded 

 Northern Spy is 



through the whole cherry season. No one can 

 go amiss in adopting this list. 



liasiihtrries: 1. Iliu'iiet. 2. Uerstiue. 3. 

 PhihKlelphia. 4. Brandywine. 



Strawberries: 1. Captain .Jack. 2. Scth 

 Boy den. 3. Sharpless. 4. Tromphe de 

 Gand. 



Currants: 1. Black Naples. 2. Red 

 Dutch. 3. White grape. 



These three varieties are the best among 

 the different colors. The Red Dutch is a 

 regular bearer and is of better quality than 

 any other. There are others larger, but they 

 are more acid. The white grape is transiiar- 

 ent, of good quality, and ought to be more 

 generally grown, but it is not a great bearer. 



Gooseherrii's : 1. Houghton. 2. Down- 

 ing. These are the two best gooseberries 

 grown iu this country. They bear every year 

 heavy crops, are free from mildew, and are of 

 excellent (piality. They are large enough for 

 all practical iiurposes. Keep clear of the 

 giants and their big prices. 



Blackberries: 1. New Rochelle. 2. Missouri 

 Cluster. 3. Wilson's Early. 4. Snyder. 



The Snyder, a new western blackberry, is 

 highly spoken of at distant points, but we 

 prefer to wait anothei; year before recom- 

 mending it, in the meantime giving it a 

 trial. 



It is better that tho.se who intend to culti- 

 vate fruit and have to make purchases, to take 

 this list with them to the nur8ery,and adhere 

 to it as far as possible. 



In selecting fruit trees, or any others, be 

 careful to choose those with smooth, healthy- 

 looking bark, have entirely shed their le.aves, 

 and ha\'e plenty of small fibrous roots. Trees 

 on which the leaves remain after frost sets in, 

 and stick to the branches in the spring, may 

 be regarded as not healthy, and in some way 

 lacking stamina. 



WATERING PLANTS IN POTS. 



Indiscriminate watering produces most dis- 

 astrous results, and especially this is the case 

 during Winter, when vegetation is in a semi- 

 tlormant condition, and the atmosphere so 

 surcharged with moisture that there is no 

 evaporation going on from the leaves. In 

 Spring and early Summer, tlie.se act as a 

 safety-valve, and the air being then naturally 

 drier, a greater demand is made on them,and 

 this goes on increasing from day to day, ac- 

 cording to the state of^ the weather. It will 

 thus be seen that the foliage should iu a 

 great measure regulate the supply of water, 

 for, as a rule, the larger it is, or the more 

 there is of it, the greater the drain on the 

 roots and the less risk of giving too much. 

 Not only have the leaves much to do with the 

 quantity of water that plants will absorb, but 

 the amount of bloom they have to carry must 

 likewise be taken into account, for when this 

 is heavy the tax is so great that unless proper 

 assistance be given exhaustion supervenes, 

 and this disorganizes the whole system in 

 such a manner that they are a long time re- 

 covering. 



If we take azaleas and camellias, and only 

 think of the vast surface of leaf and petal 

 there is when they are in flower, the whole 

 of which is full or pores which are constantly 

 exhaling moisture, we cannot be surprised at 

 the quantity of water recpiired at this season 

 to keep them in health. If these plants are 

 well drained, it is surprising the quantity they 

 will take at this season and until growth is 

 complete ; indeed, dryness at any time is fatal 

 to the success of either, and is a frequent 

 cause of bud dropping ; but though they will 

 bear much raoistuie, anything approaching to 

 saturation, to cause a stasinant or sour state 

 of the soil, should be carefully avoided, a.s 

 this soon throws the roots out of health. The 

 thing is to let the ball get into such a condi- 

 tion as to be just inclining to be dry, and 

 then so to water as to insure a thorough soak- 

 ing of every part, after which no more should 

 be given till that is used up, and so on the 

 year through. 



It is the incessant driblets that do the 

 harm, for there is either too much or too lit- 



